Aliens​—Why Do They Migrate?

“NO ONE could imagine the sort of perils we face in Third World countries . . . and the hardships we face here just trying to make it and support our families back home.” Thus wrote Elizabeth, an African immigrant, to the editor of the National Geographic magazine. Her words reveal the very crux of why millions of people are willing to forsake their roots to start life anew in a strange country.

Of course, each immigrant has his or her own story to relate. Some, like the woman mentioned above, may have migrated to escape the hard living conditions that exist in their countries of origin. In his book Population, Migration, and Urbanization in Africa, William Hance explains that such factors as disease, insect infestation, soil exhaustion, drought, flooding, famine, war, and tribal strife are the prime causes for today’s mass exodus from Africa. Other parts of the earth with similar desperate conditions have also become the spawning grounds for migration.

However, sociologists have identified the desire to escape oppressive living conditions as only part of the reason for today’s migratory trends.

Push-​Pull Effect

The attraction toward countries that offer a better opportunity in life is also a strong motivation to move. This, together with the desire to escape bad conditions, produces what is recognized as the push-​pull effect. Local adversities tend to push and the foreign advantages tend to pull, or draw, the person to migration. Take the case of Nguyen Van Tue, a typical Vietnamese refugee in Japan. Although he suffered much while coming to grips with being a foreigner, Nguyen admits: “I am content. I have my family with me and we are alive and well in a country that has freedom and enjoys peace.”

Economic attraction is one of the strongest factors that encourages migration. In discussing the Italian community of one English town, author John Brown says in his book The Un-​melting Pot: “Their prime object has always been to make money.” He adds that they did this by working “hard and well.” When one examines the extreme disparity between wage levels of different countries, it is little wonder that people migrate. Commenting on Mexican workers in the United States, National Geographic reveals that “an hour of work south of the [U.S.] border brings a fifth to a tenth of the wage it commands in the United States.”

The Pull of Family and Friends

Of course, many move simply to be closer to family and friends who have preceded them. Many Soviet Jews, for example, have migrated to Israel because they feel that there is safety in numbers. Some were even prepared to take their chances in the strife-​torn West Bank.

Encouragement from friends and relatives influences many to emigrate. Australia has been recommended to many prospective emigrants. Now nearly 22 percent of its population are foreign born.

While on a visit from the United States, one emigrant from Barbados told his friend: “You think you [are] all right here,” but he asserted that his friend was “wasting . . . time” remaining on the island. Many years later, his friend admits that these words sowed the seed of discontent, eventually causing him to emigrate.

Often, unfortunately, only the rosy part of the picture is presented to the prospective emigrant. Said Ron, a young man who moved to Canada to escape the rising unrest in South Africa: “Friends and relatives tend to tell you all the great things . . . and understandably omit the negative things.”

Whatever the motivation for migration, more often than not, the alien suffers much. As the full implication of the move dawns on them, some strongly desire to return home. So, how can a foreigner successfully adapt to his new environment while coping with homesickness, severed family ties, culture shock, language differences, and a host of related problems?

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Economic attraction is one of the strongest factors in migration

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“I am content. I have my family with me and we are alive and well in a country that has freedom and enjoys peace.”​—A Vietnamese in Japan

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When one examines the extreme disparity between wage levels of different countries, it is little wonder that people migrate

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To the new immigrant, everything seems strange and difficult